Drowning In A ‘High-Risk’ Insurance Pool, At $18,000 A Year

Health InsuranceMarch 4, 2017Comments Off on Drowning In A ‘High-Risk’ Insurance Pool, At $18,000 A Year

Craig Britton once paid $18,000 a year in premiums for health insurance he bought through Minnesota’s “high risk pool.” He calls the argument that these pools can bring down the cost of monthly premiums “a lot of baloney.”

Mark Zdehchlik / MPR News

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Mark Zdehchlik / MPR News

Craig Britton once paid $18,000 a year in premiums for health insurance he bought through Minnesota’s “high risk pool.” He calls the argument that these pools can bring down the cost of monthly premiums “a lot of baloney.”

Mark Zdehchlik / MPR News

Some Republicans looking to scrap the Affordable Care Act say monthly health insurance premiums need to be lower for the individuals who have to buy insurance on their own. One way to do that, GOP leaders say, would be to return to the use of what are called high-risk insurance pools.

But critics say even some of the most successful high-risk pools that operated before the advent of Obamacare were very expensive for patients enrolled in the plans, and for the people who